Nets lose as Blatche throws the game away

The Brooklyn Nets overcame a 26 point deficit and had a chance to win the game with 6.5 seconds left, but Andray Blatche launched the ball over a wide open Deron Williams as the final seconds ticked off the clock. As a result, the Nets lost to the Toronto Raptors 115-113 and now trail the series 3-2 with it headed back to Brooklyn on Friday. Blatche was at the line with 6.5 seconds. He hit the first free throw to pull to within two. He missed the second shot, the ball sailed to the right of the net, Shaun Livingston saved it from going out of bounds and got the ball to Blatche. Deron Williams was wide open at the top of the three-point arc and all Blatche had to do was get him the ball. Instead he sent it well over D-Will’s head and with it the game. “That pass I made, you know, um, it was just too strong,” Blatche said. “I was trying to get it to him to hit the three, but somebody was rushing me. I was trying to make the free throw, I missed, Shaun made a great play, I tried to make a great play to dwill so he could hit a three and we could win the series.” That play ruined what could have been an amazing comeback after the Nets buried themselves in a 26-point hole thanks, mostly, to a second quarter where they shot 36.8 percent and were out-rebounded 14-8. It wasn’t until Jason Kidd benched Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce midway through the third when they started to turn it around. That’s when Johnson got hot and scored 18 points on 8-for-11 from the floor. Kidd stuck with the lineup of Johnson, D-Will, Alan Anderson, Blatche, and Mirza Teletovic in the fourth quarter with KG and Pierce sitting on the bench. The result was 44 points as D-Will scored 10, Anderson 10, Teletovic nine and Johnson had eight. The Nets trailed by as much as 22 points with 11:23 left to play and there was 3:19 left when Johnson tied it with a long-range three. “It’s what it is,” Garnett said. “I thought the group that was in there was rolling. I thought that they had momentum. I thought Joe did a great job in being aggressive.” “I wasn’t thinking about it,” Pierce said. “I was on the sidelines rooting for my teammates who got us back in the game and gave us a chance.” Both players remained on the bench in the closing seconds. Johnson missed a three attempt with 1:57 left, he missed another shot with 20.9 seconds left. They had the ball with 4.9 seconds left, all Blatche had to do was get it to D-Will, who was wide open. Unfortunately that never happened. Now the Nets trail the Raptors 3-2 in the series. They head back to Brooklyn on Friday night and, if necessary, to Toronto on Sunday.

Follow Bk Eagle Sports

Subscribe via email

About Bk Eagle Sports

Brooklyn sports are back and the Brooklyn Daily Eagle is dedicated in covering them at Brooklyn Eagle Sports because we are all Brooklyn, all the time.
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle is published five days a week as a morning newspaper. We are the only daily in New York City devoted exclusively to Brooklyn.